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GENEVA

Geneva to cut taxes and make public transport free for young people

The Swiss canton has bucked the trend seen in many states around the world: instead of being in the red, its public coffers are overflowing. What is the canton going to do with the excess money?

Published: 22 March 2024 13:33 CET
Updated: 22 March 2024 15:20 CET
Geneva to cut taxes and make public transport free for young people
Geneva bus in front of the city's central train station. Photo by JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT / AFP

In 2023, the canton recorded a budget surplus of nearly 1.4 million francs.

This enviable profit was made possible by “good control of charges, as well as higher-than-expected tax revenues,” cantonal authorities said in a press release on Thursday. 

In all, Geneva collected more tax revenue not only from its residents, but from local businesses as well.

“Tax revenues show marked growth compared to the 2023 budget,” authorities added.

“This development is essentially due to the unprecedented growth of the flagship sectors of the Geneva economy, which are wholesale trade, finance and watchmaking.”

What will the canton do with all this money?

The surplus will allow the canton to cut taxes, especially for the middle class, and to also offer free transport on the UNIRESO network to young people up to the age of 24.

Specifically, tax burden will be lowered by 5.3 percent for the highest income brackets, but would be reduced up to 11.3 percent for the middle class.

This measure would apply for single people whose taxable income is between 34,510 francs and 191,473 francs a year, as well as for married couples earning between 47,869 and 410,775 francs of taxable income.

In terms of public transport, young people up to 24 years of age, who reside in the canton, will be able ride for free on TPG, SBB, and Mouettes genevoises route network on Geneva’s territory.

This measure will go into effect at the start of the 2024 school year.

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POLITICS

Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Voters in the country’s most "international" canton Geneva will soon have their say on whether non-Swiss citizens living in their midst should have more political rights.

Published: 29 April 2024 12:19 CEST
Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Foreigners are not allowed to vote on national level anywhere in Switzerland.

Though there had been attempts in the past to change this rule, the latest such move was turned down by legislators in 2022.

However, five cantons are permitting foreign residents to cast their votes in local referendums and elections: Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Conditions vary from one canton to another, but in all cases a certain length of stay and a residence permit are required.

(In Zurich, a similar move was rejected in 2023).

Of the five cantons, only Neuchâtel and Jura authorise foreign residents to vote on cantonal level in addition to communal one; in the others, they can cast municipal ballots only. 

Additionally, three other cantons have similar laws on their books, but they this legislation remains mostly inactive.

Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have authorised their communes to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents. 

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

Wait…Geneva’s foreigners already have the right to vote?

Yes, they have had this right since 2005, but only on municipal level.

However, this could change on June 9th, when Geneva residents will go to the polls to weigh in on an initiative launched by the trade unions and political left, calling for foreigners who have lived in the canton for at least eight years, to be able to vote and stand as candidates for political offices at the cantonal level.

This ‘upgrade’ to the cantonal voting rights is important, supporters argue, because it would enable foreigners to have more political impact.

“Municipal votes are quite rare, and the issues at stake are relatively limited,” the initiative committee said.

Therefore, “access to the cantonal vote will allow these same people to express their views on wider subjects that affect them on a daily basis.”

Is this  measure likely to be accepted?

No reliable forecasts exist at this point.

And while foreigners constitute nearly 40 percent of Geneva’s population — the highest proportion in Switzerland —  it will be up to Swiss citizens to decide on the outcome.

However, some members of the Geneva parliament are urging the ‘no’ vote on June 9th.

“No canton, no country, provides such generous rights to their foreigners,” the MPs from the centre parties pointed out in an interview with Tribune de Genève over the weekend.

(Neuchâtel and Jura allow voting, but not standing for election, at cantonal level).

“The only path for foreigners to obtain full political rights is through naturalisation,” the MPs added.

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